One convict killed, 106 flee as shells hit east Ukraine jail

KIEV: One convict was killed and over 100 escaped when shelling hit a high-security prison in the besieged rebel stronghold of Donetsk in east Ukraine, local authorities said Monday.

Mortar blasts rocked the correctional facility in a western district of the city Sunday evening, hitting the living areas, administrative headquarters and an electrical substation, the city council said in a statement.

One prisoner died and fifteen more received light wounds.

Meanwhile, the bombardment also sparked a mass jail break that saw scores of detainees flee the prison.

"A riot started in the facility and 106 people escaped their place of detention," the statement said.

By Monday morning an unspecified number had been returned to the facility and a more precise figure would be given by evening, the statement said.